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Dog incident prompts concern about animal control hours in Louisville

By Joe Rubino

Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
07/05/2014 01:00:00 PM MDT

After a pair of loose terriers caused havoc on a stretch of McCaslin Boulevard in Louisville last week, one Boulder County resident is voicing concerns about the lack of available animal control officers in the city after normal business hours.

Superior resident Stephanie Hartzell said she was headed home on southbound McCaslin at about 6:45 p.m. Monday when two small dogs darted in front of her car near Washington Avenue.

The two pooches, running up and down McCaslin, prompted several onlookers and drivers, including Hartzell, to stop what they were doing and attempt to wrangle the animals, she said.

"It was quite a chaotic scene. Traffic was continuously stopping in both directions as the dogs went back and forth across the street," said Hartzell, 29.

Several people eventually called Louisville police, who dispatched two patrol officers, Hartzell said.

When the officers arrived, Hartzell said, she and several other people had cornered one of the dogs in some bushes, but the officer who came to assist them did not have the snare necessary to keep the dog in place. When the other officer eventually came over with the snare, Hartzell said the first officer had a hard time hanging onto the dog and appeared not to have a proper kennel for holding the animal.

Hartzell said she and four or five other people eventually followed the other dog into a neighborhood where it bit one man trying to catch it.

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She said the situation was dangerous for everyone involved and wondered if it would have been handled differently if officers who specialized in animal control were on call that evening.

"My perception was that this is a very animal-friendly community and I had high expectations, I guess, when the situation was beginning to unfold and the officers were on the way," Hartzell said. "And it was just not that at all."

Louisville Police Chief David Hayes said he had heard of the incident on McCaslin. Hayes said that as of Thursday morning, both of the animals remained at large.

Louisville has two officers dedicated to animal control and code enforcement, Hayes said. Their schedules are staggered so at least one of them is working every day of the week, but the latest either of them works on any given day is 6 p.m., he said.

"We only have so many people, so we really have to schedule them when we have the bulk of our call load, and, combining code compliance and animal control, it's daytime hours," Hayes said.

Hayes, who took over as Louisville's chief in April, said he knows his animal control officers would like to provide service at night, but for a department of 32 officers, making that happen could be tough.

"It ultimately becomes a question of money," he said "I know it's on their wish list to get some evening coverage."

Malcolm Fleming, Louisville's city manager, said departments are preparing their budget for the next fiscal year, and any request for an increase in staffing would have to be weighed by the City Council.

Hayes said that while they don't have extensive training in the area, patrol officers are prepared to handle basic animal calls.

Many neighboring jurisdictions staff their animal control units in a similar way.

According to Lafayette's website, the city employs one animal control officer who is on duty from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with police officers handling those duties at all other times.

Jennifer Applemann is an animal control officer with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, which also provides service in Superior, Lyons and Jamestown. She said none of her department's six officers works past 6 p.m.

Janee Boswell, supervisor for the Boulder Police Department's animal control unit, said that while her officers work later in the summer months, they typically rely on trained patrol officers to respond to animal calls after dark.

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